Ramayana's global advance bookings cross Rs 150 crore on release day

Nitesh Tiwari's film Ramayana released in cinemas today, November 5. Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash play the lead roles. The film had been awaited for a long time, and even before release its box office earnings drew wide attention.

Worldwide advance bookings have crossed Rs 150 crore. India accounts for more than Rs 100 crore of this. Overseas pre-sales have brought in about $5.6 million, or roughly Rs 52 crore. Audiences, the film industry and trade watchers are now looking to the first-day collection.

Advance booking did not start smoothly. A dispute over revenue sharing between distributors and cinema owners delayed the start of ticket booking in many theatres. Once the dispute was resolved, more screens and shows were opened, which directly helped ticket sales. Advance bookings saw a sharp rise in the last few days before release.

In domestic bookings, the Hindi version leads, accounting for about three-fourths of the total. The Kannada and Telugu versions are also getting a good response. Yash plays Ravana in the film, and audiences appear particularly curious about this.

The overseas market's share is also large. North America is said to have made a significant contribution. Paid previews were held there before the release in India, which gave overseas ticket sales a good pace.

Tickets are also in strong demand at the country's major multiplex chains PVR, INOX and Cinepolis. Including seats blocked for the opening weekend, advance bookings across the three chains total Rs 45.76 crore. Excluding blocked seats, the figure is Rs 36.38 crore.

PVR's share is Rs 25.36 crore, INOX's Rs 14.91 crore and Cinepolis's Rs 5.49 crore. A total of 7.89 lakh tickets have been sold across the three chains.

The advance booking numbers have raised hopes of a big opening at the box office. According to trade estimates, the film could earn Rs 75 crore to Rs 100 crore in India on the first day. Some estimates put the worldwide first-day collection at Rs 160 crore to Rs 175 crore.